Savory Green Onion Noodle Cake

Pull out your Easy Summer Weeknight Rotation Meal List and add this recipe because it is beyond fabulous for so many reasons! First, allows you to use up cilantro and green onions from the CSA Box. Second, it's ready within 30 minutes. Third, leftovers straight from the fridge are your best friend.

Chimichurri Sauce

If your herb garden is out of control blossoming beautifully you may be like me and desperate for ways to consume herbs in everything imaginable before the dreaded first frost of fall, summer is way too short lived. Time to slather herbs on EVERYTHING!!! 

CSA Cooking {Community Supported Agriculture} Week 2

Week two of Sweet Beet Farm's CSA bushel is here and boy, oh, boy is it abundant! Even as I find myself in my third year participating as a CSA member I'm feeling a leeeeetle overwhelmed I've learned to battle vegetable abundance into submission! So, come close, let me talk us all off the ledge because, look... as I type these words my kids are about finished polishing off two pounds of strawberries in a matter of 39 seconds. Other plans for vegetable abundance: Summer Herb Salad for friends of the co-op (tomorrow night - come see me!). And if becoming more svelte is a side-effect of eating 4 heads of lettuce for the next 6 days (until next week's harvest), I'm game! Today I've got some outstanding recipes you'll want to use for your own CSA cooking and some quick tips to keep produce fresher longer. 

Korean Beef

Hello! Are you enjoying summer? Isn't it grand? Besides soaking sunshine up at the lake, usually with family, basking in lazy, long evenings summer brings salad on the grill, iced coffee that will buzz you up, kale in a cocktail, and (most hopefully) easy weeknight meals, like this Korean Beef. This meal is super economical, was on the table in under 30 minutes, and (shhhhhh) the kids. asked. for. seconds. That was pretty cool. Leftovers are going to be dreamy inside of a (CSA Time!) lettuce leaf tomorrow for lunch. Bookmark this recipe now - 'tis a keeper.

Mary Jane's Grilled Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Herb Dressing

It's CSA time and that means heavenly, buttery, fresher than any grocer could ever provide lettuce will be on our plates for the next several weeks [super loud cheering, jumping up and down, shouting & joy]! Lots and lots and lots and lots of greens will force our inner creative to emerge because I suspect some may be tossing greens to the gerbils, me included. This salad was inspired by chef Mary Jane Miller who provided an excellent outdoor cooking demo for a Sustainable Farmer's Association Spring Picnic (I heart farmer's). She was the Star of the Outdoor BBQ and I learned so much that day! 

CSA Cooking {Community Supported Agriculture} Week 1

Week one of Sweet Beet Farm's Community Supported Agriculture bushel has arrived! You may remember how I documented last year's harvest. If you are newly participating as a CSA Members: 

1) From this point forward save all bread bags, apple bags, lemon bags, bags of all kinds and reuse them for the loose produce, which will be mostly loose. You'll want refrigeration organization because we know being prepped and organized leads to easier weeknight meal-planning. 

2) Be ready to eat a lot of greens. Did I say a lot? 

3) Bookmark interesting recipes you always wanted to try but never really had a reason to prepare - because now you will need that random recipe for let's say, pea shoots and get ready to be adventurous in the kitchen! 

4) Prepare yourself for the possibility of finding a green caterpillar or other bug in your produce. Don't worry, this is organic produce - bugs mean no pesticides - a symbiotic relationship of sorts. Just toss into the garbage and continue on. 

Strong Iced Coffee + {Driven Coffee Giveaway}

Come. Come close. Closer. Look…it's coffee. Hail the ever sacred coffee. How can a morning ever be started without? It simply cannot. And I have coffee to share! A local coffee roaster, Driven Coffee from Buffalo, MN is sponsoring a giveaway! Beyond exciting! My blog's first ever give away! All you need to do is head to my Facebook page, 'like' my page, and leave a comment answering this question: Where in the world was your most delicious cup of coffee? Now, back to coffee! Making iced coffee takes a little bit of effort, but really is quite simple and because your fridge will possess a jug of black magic for the next 3 weeks AND you'll save time not running into the coffee shop because whipping up iced coffees at home is faster AND you'll save money because no more temptation while waiting in line considering that pack of shortbread cookies I'm wondering why you aren't brewing up some coffee right now!?

Spicy Kale Rum Punch

Ah, Summer! Hello! I'm so glad you're here. Why don't we sit on the deck with a Spicy Kale Rum Punch and catch up? This cocktail is herbaceous, spicy, and refreshing, it's a stomach primer for a big meal, spicy, did I say spicy? But after about the first three sips spiciness turns into a mellow, green grassy herb flavor that has you pleasantly sipping. You should've heard Liam poke Christian and whisper dramatically "Mom is… drinking… GREEN... juice" as I was pleasantly sipping mine. Ahhh.